Playing it by ear Ava makes trek the win

Jason Hoekema Freelance Journalist

HUMBOLDT, KANSAS – If you drove up to the stadium last Friday looking for a football game you probably found an empty field at CE Harlan Stadium.

The Ava Bears had to make a quick swap of opponents as the Strafford team was unable to compete because of COVID-19 quarantines and precautions.

Instead, the Bears made a 400-mile round-trip journey to neighboring Kansas to pick up their second win with a 45-0 tally after four quarters.

Statistics were not available as of Tuesday night.

                    1Q  2Q  3Q  4Q  FINAL
Ava               28  17    0     0     45
Humboldt       0     0    0     0      0

Tomorrow the Bears are on the road against bitter rivals, the Mountain Grove Panthers.

The Panthers are coming off a 56-21 win against Agape High School and are 1-1 so far this season.

So far, both teams are making moves and putting points on the board. The difference this season is points allowed per game. Mountain Grove is letting an average of 34 points per game.

Meanwhile, Ava is averaging seven points allowed per game. This early in the season the only two times the opponent reached pay dirt was versus Buffalo for the season opener.

The Bears are 6-1 since 2017. Their last loss from the Panthers was delivered last year in the playoff season, 28-14, after Ava served Mountain Grove a 14-0 loss just two months prior.